When you think of the term superfoods, you might think of ingredients such blueberries, chia seeds and kale. And indeed, those three often commonly appear on superfood lists. But as Jamie Oliver says in his series , eating superfood doesn't have to be about throwing in a few (sometimes very expensive) ingredients into your bowl or blender. Eating 'super food' can be an everyday thing, and delicious too.
But first, what exactly are superfoods? While the term superfood usually refers to food that are rich in nutrients, and sometimes with proven or potential health and wellbeing benefits, there's no formal definition, and the evidence doesn't always match the marketing hype. But there's plenty of evidence that including a wide range of nutritious food in your diet is good for you, and that's the approach Oliver takes.
"Super food for me is a new way of thinking," he says. "It’s not about goji berries and green drinks. It’s about cooking smart with simple foods that are nutritious and delicious."
"I don’t want you to eat healthy food because you have to. I want you to eat healthy food because it’s delicious."
Here are 11 easy recipes from Jamie Oliver and other great cooks that show just how good food that is good for you can be.
Jamie Oliver's Asian-inspired crispy lean beef stir-fry with brown rice noodles, plenty of salad and a zingy ginger and chilli dressing is full of texture and flavour. "This is absolutely the kind of stuff I love to do in the middle of the week. You can knock it out quick. Makes you feel good," he says. "Healthy food doesn’t have to be boring. This is full of texture, colour, flavour."
Stir-fried crispy beef with noodles and salad. Credit: Jamie Oliver Enterprises
Here's a prime example of food that looks delicious, tastes delicious and is good for you too. And it's not hard to make. "This delicious combo of fresh fish, whole wheat tacos and amazing kiwi and lime salsa is protein packed, low in fat and has three of your five fruit and veg a day," Oliver says of a Jamie's Super Food recipe inspired by his visit to the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, home to people with some of the highest longevity on earth, and where fish plays an important part in the local diet.
Tasty fish tacos. Credit: Jamie Oliver Enterprises
Here, Jamie Oliver gives eggy bread – "one of my favourite breakfasts as a kid" – his 'super food' twist. "And the thing is about this dish is it can skew unhealthy, or really healthy." His version tilts to the latter. Usually, eggy bread (pretty much French toast!) is made by soaking white bread slices in an egg and milk mixture and then frying the slices in butter or oil. Oliver changes things up by using thick slices of wholewheat bread, cutting a pocket into each and stuffing it with fruit, then using a spiced egg and banana mixture for dipping. A small amount of oil is used for cooking, and the cooked stuffed products are served with natural yoghurt and nuts.
Jamie's eggy bread berry pockets. Credit: Jamie Oliver Enterprises
"Protein packed prawns, smothered in a punchy marinade, resting on a pile of whole wheat couscous. Fruit and veg with capsules of pomegranate providing bursts of sweet joy. This is one sunny celebration of food you won’t wanna miss out on," says Oliver of this vibrant meal from Jamie's Super Food. It's also ready in about 20 minutes, making this a whole different kind of fast food!
Sizzling Moroccan prawns with couscous and rainbow salsa. Credit: Jamie Oliver Enterprises
Irish cook Donal Skehan is another person who loves filling a plate or bowl with approachable, healthy food. Here, he serves up a healthy dinner with a spiced BBQ fish fillet served alongside a wild rice, chickpea and asparagus salad and dressed with mango salsa.
Credit: Donal's Cook, Eat, Burn
This vibrant Jamie Oliver recipe with eggs, beans, cherry tomatoes and ricotta makes a delicious, protein-rich breakfast or brunch.
Baked eggs in popped beans with ricotta toast. Credit: Jamie Oliver Enterprises
Supercharged with spinach, these pancakes are quick and colourful. "Having fun with breakfast is definitely something we can do more of, and this is a really beautiful breakfast, brunch, lunch...," Oliver says. "It's full of colour, full of the good stuff."
Spinach pancakes with blistered tomatoes. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey
If a sweet breakfast is more your style, you'll love these rice puddings from Jamie Oliver. Colourful and delicious, they can be made ahead, too, and stored in the fridge. With mango, banana, passionfruit, coconut flakes and hazelnuts in there, it's bringing variety to your morning.
Black rice breakfast pudding. Credit: Jamie Oliver Enterprises
Another colourful bowl, this one from Jacqui Tedder. "This salad is a homage to the forgotten superfoods. The humble underdogs, like the sweet potato, which contains more beta carotene than a carrot, and the cauliflower, which contains plant sterols that help to lower the 'bad' cholesterol naturally," she says.
Credit: Nikki To
Bring the healthfood cafe to your kitchen with this Donal Skehan recipe – a big beetroot patty filled with various veg, chickpeas and oats served on a sourdough bun with sliced avo, cabbage and hummus.
Mega beetroot burger Credit: Donal's Cook, Eat, Burn!
Super crunchy and packed with a great variety of nuts, seeds and grains, including buckwheat, quinoa and oats, these bars are a tasty energy source after a hard workout or a long walk, or for a relatively healthy snack. As Caroline Griffiths notes, it might seem a bit weird to include cumin in a non-savoury recipe, but it gives a slightly unusual edge to these bars.
Credit: Smith Street Books
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The NITV Podcast - Bush superfoods
